The air in the stone chamber suddenly froze.
Hyuga Hiashi slowly emerged from the shadows, followed by four elderly men in white kimono. There were no Caged Bird Seals on their foreheads. Instead, each bore a faintly glowing black diamond-shaped mark—the Watcher Seed.
Xiao's pupils contracted.
He recognized those marks. He had seen them in the Glacial Mine Tunnel, on Ko Hyuga, and within the puppet bodies controlled by the Main House. Each one represented the Moon Ōtsutsuki's surveillance, a mark that signified the Branch House had been completely stripped of its selfhood.
"Finally, I've been waiting for you, Xiao."
Hiashi's voice echoed through the empty third underground level, carrying long-suppressed satisfaction. His gaze swept over Xiao's eyes, which shimmered with a faint azure glow, and greed nearly spilled from his expression.
Clone Shisui instantly stepped in front of Xiao, his Sharingan spinning.
"Don't move."
Hiashi raised a hand. The four elders behind him formed hand seals at the same time, their movements synchronized as though they were one person. The flesh-and-blood patterns on the ground suddenly flared with blinding white light. The tissue that had previously retreated seemed to come alive, writhing and growing madly as it wove a massive net around the stone chamber.
Xiao felt the flow of chakra within his body abruptly stall.
The power granted by the Tenseigan Prototype felt as though it had been bound by invisible chains. Every circulation became unbearably sluggish. He looked down at the ground—the flesh-and-blood patterns were not flowing with chakra, but pure Byakugan ocular power. Countless streams intertwined into a sealing array designed specifically to target Tenseigan Chakra.
"The Byakugan Sealing Array..."
Xiao's voice was calm, so calm that even he found it surprising.
"That's right." Hiashi took two steps forward. The flesh beneath his feet parted automatically,